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Charlotte Motor Speedway history
Charlotte Motor Speedway company history timeline
The first World 600 NASCAR race was held at the 1.5 mi (2.4 km) speedway on June 19, 1960.
Since its inception in 1960, Charlotte Motor Speedway has always put fans first.
The winner of that inaugural race in 1960, whose name will forever remain in the history books, was Joe Lee Johnson.
On December 8, 1961, the speedway filed bankruptcy notice.
Judge J. B. Craven of United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina reorganized it under Chapter 10 of the Bankruptcy Act; Judge Craven appointed Robert "Red" Robinson as the track's trustee until March 1962.
By 1962 Bruton Smith had departed from the speedway to focus on his automotive dealership and banking interest, which involved a move to Rockford, Il.
By April 1963 some $750,000 was paid to twenty secured creditors and the track emerged from bankruptcy; Judge Craven appointed Goines as speedway president and Howard as assistant general manager of the speedway, handling its day-to-day operations.
Smith began to purchase shares of the speedway and by 1974 he was the majority shareholder.
Smith Tower, a 135,000 square feet (12,500 m), seven-story facility was built and connected to the grandstands in 1988.
Expansions to the condominium complex were added in 1991.
The lighting system was installed in 1992, allowing Charlotte Motor Speedway to be the first modern superspeedway to host night auto racing.
The 1992 NASCAR All-Star race.
In 1992 the speedway added a state of the art $1.7 million dollar 1,200 fixture lighting system to simulate daylight.
In 1994, Smith and Wheeler added a new $1 million, 20,000 square feet (1,900 m) garage area to the speedway's infield.
In 1995, 26-year-old Russell Phillips was killed in one of the most gruesome crashes in auto racing history.
Charlotte was the largest lighted super speedway until 1998 when Daytona added lights.
In February 1999, Lowe's bought the naming rights to the speedway, making it the first race track in the country with a corporate sponsor.
At an IndyCar Series race in 1999, three spectators died when a tire detached from a crashed vehicle and catapulted into the grandstand.
Already accustomed to setting records and precedents, in 1999 the Charlotte Motor Speedway made history again when it changed its name to Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
On lap 61 of the 1999 race, a crash led to a car losing a tire, which was then propelled into the grandstands by another car.
In May 2000, The Dirt Track at Charlotte, a state-of-the-art, four-tenths-mile clay oval was completed across United States 29 from the speedway.
In May of 2000 after the NASCAR All Star Race a pedestrian bridge collapsed causing an 80- foot section of the bridge to fall 17 feet onto a highway, injuring 107 fans.
Track president "Humpy" Wheeler retired following the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25, 2008, and was replaced by Marcus Smith.
The state-of-the-art facility has been praised as the finest drag racing facility in the world by both fans and competitors alike, and opened to a sellout crowd of more than 30,000 for the NHRA Carolina Nationals in September 2008.
Charlotte Motor Speedway added the Bellagio of drag strips to its complex with the completion of zMAX Dragway in 2008.
At the end of 2008, the speedway reduced capacity by 25,000 citing reduced ticket sales.
Lowe's chose not to renew its naming rights after the 2009 NASCAR season.
In yet another record-setting moment, the track partnered with Panasonic in 2010 and built the world’s largest high-definition video display which stretched 200 ft wide and 80 ft tall.
In 2012, the speedway opened first-of-its-kind corporate hospitality in the infield.
Kurt Busch set the Cup Series record driving for Chevrolet in 2014.
Charlotte Motor Speedway ushered in a new chapter of its illustrious history in 2018, when the 2.28-mile, 17-turn ROVAL™ road course oval debuted in the Bank of America ROVAL™ 400.
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Charlotte Motor Speedway competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speedway Motorsports | 1959 | $570.0M | 793 | 62 |
| Bristol Motor Speedway | 1961 | $7.5M | 350 | - |
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | - | $77.0M | 409 | 4 |
| Kansas Speedway | 2001 | $3.9M | 81 | 5 |
| Philadelphia Union | 2008 | $3.3M | 236 | 6 |
| Texas Motor Speedway | - | - | - | 2 |
| Chicago Bears | 1920 | $45.0M | 561 | 2 |
| Event Services | 1986 | $12.7 | 50 | 4 |
| Portland Timbers | 2009 | $500,000 | 15 | 5 |
| Miami Dolphins | 1966 | $461.0M | 50 | 17 |
Charlotte Motor Speedway history FAQs
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